US-Japan war games off the California coast imitate Chinese invasion

Marines of the U.S. Marine Corps take part in a practice for a joint landing operation drill (Reuters / Lee Jae Won) / Reuters

The US and Japan are preparing for a possible Chinese invasion of the Senkaku Islands. Using a small island off the coast of California, US and Japanese forces are mimicking an armed invasion and an amphibious assault to prepare for a real-life scenario.

The unprecedented drills, code-named Dawn Blitz, are being
conducted on San Clemente Island, which is 75 miles northwest of
San Diego, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
They began with an assault led by 80 US Marines and
three MV-22 Osprey aircraft, and were followed by a Japanese
counterattack using 1,000 troops and two warships. Although
Japanese officials claim they are not preparing to target a third
country, the exercises have made Chinese officials uncomfortable.

China and Japan have long disputed the Senkaku Islands, which are
located in the East China Sea but which the Japanese government
purchased from private owners in 2012. The islands are
uninhabited, but believed to hold rich oil and gas deposits. The
purchase triggered violent protests that tens of thousands of
Chinese took part in, and harmed Sino-Japanese relations.

In the months after the purchase, the Chinese navy practiced
military exercises near the islands, and joint US-Japanese naval
drills subsequently occurred
in the waters of the island chain. The latest drills off the
California coast are only adding to tensions regarding the
Senkaku Islands. Chinese officials reportedly objected to the
drills, but their concerns were ignored by Washington, the
Christian Science Monitor reports.

"We're aware of China's objections, but from a Japanese and US
perspective, the object of the exercise is to build a powerful
deterrent and demonstrate that the two forces are seamlessly
connected – to show the Chinese that they are battle-ready,"
an official source familiar with Dawn Blitz told the Monitor on
condition of anonymity. "There is nothing unusual in
that."

The exercises began just two days after President Obama met with
Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a California summit on June 8. But
even though some believe the US is in a tricky position, the
official does not believe the US is in the wrong, since the
US-Japan security treaty requires the country to help Japan deter
any attacks on its territory.

"I don't think Dawn Blitz puts the US in a tricky
position," the official said. "They started the drill just
after the Obama-Xi summit to avoid any diplomatic repercussions.
But the fact that Japan and the US went ahead with the exercise
also sends a message – that they are on the same page when it
comes to deterring possible Chinese aggression."

Lt. Gen. Koichi Isobe, Japan’s vice chief of staff, told
reporters that Japan’s self-defense forces (SDF) need to develop
the capabilities to ward off any attacks that might occur on the
remote islands.

"The defense of remote islands is a pressing issue, but the
SDF [Japan's self-defense forces] has just begun training to
develop such capabilities, which are required of US Marines,"
Japan's vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Koichi Isobe, told
reporters. "Japan needs to determine its defense strategy and
procure necessary equipment and train SDF members for this
purpose."

The US has publicly refused to take sides regarding the Senkaku
Islands, but its training exercises with Japan may inadvertently
cause a shift in its neutrality.